Soup for You, Seward Co-op’s March SEED grant recipient, provides free, healthy, organic meals to all members of our community. Round up at the registers at all Seward Co-op locations throughout March to support their work serving our neighbors.

The nonprofit café is open Monday through Friday, 11 a.m.–1 p.m., at Bethany Lutheran Church, 2511 E. Franklin Ave., Minneapolis, right down the street from Seward Co-op Creamery Café and the Franklin store. All are welcome to come and share a meal. Enjoy live music on Tuesdays. Donations are accepted but not required.

Soup for You Café started just over four years ago and has served nearly 70,000 bowls of soup that are nutritious, freshly prepared, globally inspired, locally sourced, vegan and vegetarian.

Follow Soup for You on Facebook.

Minnesota FoodShare
When you round up for Soup for You this month, you’re also supporting Seward Co-op’s contribution to the Minnesota FoodShare March Campaign.

The largest grassroots food and fund drive in the state, the Minnesota FoodShare March Campaign brings together various community organizations, businesses, and faith communities to help stock nearly 300 food shelves statewide.

In 2018, over $8.1 million dollars and 5.5 million pounds of food were raised by Minnesota food shelves and Minnesota FoodShare.

This small-business, big-ideas competition helps bring together, support, and celebrate the entrepreneurs in our community. This competition is proudly brought to you by the Powderhorn Park Neighborhood Association and is for both small business owners who are growing and emerging. Compete for cash prizes and business incentives in a supportive, community environment. Seward Co-op is proud to be a sponsor of this event.

Q: Why Powderhorn Shark Tank?
A: To create a community-focused space to support home-grown businesses and ideas to succeed and thrive. Unlike many traditional business competitions, Jurors rank the proposals based on more than profitability; applications are evaluated on how deeply they address a societal need and how rooted the business is in the community.

Q: Who is an entrepreneur? Who is eligible?
A: Any Minneapolis resident with an idea to sell is eligible to apply to Shark Tank. Many applicants are first-time entrepreneurs, and most have never participated in a business competition before. All competitors must be over the age of 16 at the time of the competition

Q: Who wins Shark Tank?
A: We have prizes for start-ups and established businesses. Winners were from a range of industries – food, drinks, repair, salon, craft – but they were all ranked highly for their presentations and proven need in the community. Here are the winners from last year’s 2018 Shark Tank Competition:

Start Up Winners:
rabbit Grub (fb @rabbitgrub)—bike-powered vegan food
Good Barrel Kombucha (ig @goodbarrelkombucha)—Minneapolis kombucha in Minnesota barrels

Emerging Winners:
Support Local Hustle (ig @picklewitch)—Black, Indigenous, People of Color collective
Jaxonmade (ig @jaxonmade)—home of handcrafted design, custom upholstery and furniture repair

Established Winners:
Curl Power (ig @curlpowersalon)—presents Curl Camp! Curl education, cleanse, and style session for parents of curly kids
Hamburguesas el Gordo (@hamburguesas_el_gordo)—Authentic Mexican food in the Twin Cities

Q: Where do I go for further information?
A: All information about applying for Shark Tank and attending the event can be found at https://www.ppna.org/powderhornsharktank

Application Deadline: Feb. 28, 2019 | Powderhorn Shark Tank Event: May 18, 2019

Watermelon Water Recall

A recall of Watermelon Water has been initiated by World Waters, LLC due to the potential presence of soft plastic that may be loosely floating in the finished product. While they are unaware of any adverse events associated with this product to date, the presence of the plastic could potentially be a choking hazard. This is a voluntary recall made with the knowledge of the Food and Drug Administration. Affected product was on the shelves at both Seward Co-op stores at the time of the recall.

Seward Co-op has removed all affected product from shelves. The recall includes:

Watermelon Water
UPC: 852921005004
$4.49

Affected product has a lot code and expiration date of:

AW00719 3/9/2019
AW01419 3/16/2019
AW00219 3/4/2019
AW00719 3/9/2019
AW00319 3/5/2019
AW00919 3/11/2019

If you purchased this product at Seward Co-op between Nov. 8, 2018, and Feb. 8, 2019, you will be fully refunded at either our Franklin or Friendship store Customer Service desks. For questions and additional information, email customercare@wtrmlnwtr.com, or call (719) 284-9699.

The money raised through Seward Co-op’s SEED roundup program in February will go to the Dreamland Co-Café, a project of the Cultural Wellness Center.

The Dreamland Co-Café project will create a blend of Culinary Heritage, self-love, and business incubation for African American food entrepreneurs in a cooperative and supportive environment that will allow us to reconnect, rediscover and reinvent the culinary traditions of our past.

The Cultural Wellness Center is located at 2025 Portland Ave. S. in Minneapolis. The Cultural Wellness Center promotes health and healing through exploration of an individual’s culture.

Part of the Cultural Wellness Center’s philosophy is, “Everyone has culture and no one culture has the authority to impose a universal truth or reality. We create a space and a process for people to privately study their own culture, hold internal dialogues, practice ritual, and ceremony—as well as to come together with people from other cultures to learn from each other and to celebrate, work, and learn together as a unified community. As we move into the future, successful and mutually beneficial interfacing of different cultures will be critical to creating sustainable health and wellness in community.”

Round up at the register at all Seward Co-op locations throughout February and support the Cultural Wellness Center’s Dreamland Co-Café project!

Meet our local hot-sauce makers at our Hot Sauce Tasting on Saturday, March 16, 2-5 p.m., at Seward Co-op’s Franklin store.

Spice up your stash with sales on select products.

Featuring:

•Lucky’s Honey Mustard & Hot Sauce

•Hellraising Hot Sauce

•Cry Baby Craig’s

•Nuclear Nectar

Frito Lay has issued a voluntary recall of 7.33-ounce Stacy’s Simply Naked Pita Chips due to undeclared milk ingredients.

People who have an allergy or severe sensitivity to milk could experience a life-threatening reaction if they consume the recalled product.

Seward Co-op has removed all affected product from shelves. The recall includes:

Stacy’s Simply Naked Pita Chips
Size: 7.33 ounce
UPC: 0 28400 56463 2
Use-by Date: 23 APR 2019
MFG Code: 65M127902

If you purchased this product at Seward Co-op between Nov. 7, 2018, and Feb. 5, 2019, you will be fully refunded at either our Franklin or Friendship store Customer Service desks.

Need help with meal prep? March classes kick off with two approaches to cooking as a component of wellness. Join Jesse Haas and Vanashree Belgamwar, two local instructors for:

Ayurvedic Cooking for Your Constitution
March 7, 6-8 p.m., Friendship store
$25/$20 co-op owners
REGISTER

Practical Meal Planning Strategies for Health (+ Sanity)
March 19, 7-8 p.m.
$20/$15 for co-op owners
REGISTER

Meet the Instructors

Vanashree Belgamar
Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS)
Vanashree practices in multiple locations, including Wellness Minneapolis near Seward Co-op’s Friendship store. Join her on March 7, 6-8 p.m., at the Friendship store for a cooking class with an introduction to Ayurveda and the concept of doshas. Click here to learn more and register for Vanashree’s class. Visit Vanashree’s website to learn more and like Vanashree Ayurveda LLC on Facebook!

“Ayurveda is a whole science in itself and has answers to everything with reason. I love Ayurveda because it is the most natural and gentle way to treat and heal.It is a very ancient science but its applicable anytime, anywhere because its principles are universal. This healing in harmony with nature is what inspires me to practice Ayurveda. ‘Prevention is better than cure’ is what Ayurveda focuses on a lot more and this preventative aspect of Ayurveda always encourages me to educate people and make them aware about their well-being.”

Jesse Haas, CNS
Jesse Haas, a longtime Seward Co-op class instructor and the co-founder of Wellness Minneapolis, is a heart-centered and deeply intuitive nutritionist. She combines nutritional counseling and whole foods culinary education to help her clients understand why they’re not feeling well and how to change that one meal at a time.

Join Jesse on March 19, 7-8 p.m., at the Friendship store to get some practical strategies for meal planning that will make feeding yourself and your family a breeze. Jesse will equip you with home pantry staples, lists, meal planning hacks, recipe formulas and sample meal plans. Click here to learn more and register for Jesse’s class.

Seward Co-op’s bakery prepares for a very special holiday weeks in advance: Pi(e) Day on March 14.

This year on 3.14, Seward Co-op shoppers can enjoy 15% off Seward-made whole pies and slices to celebrate the holiday of math and dessert lovers alike.

•Strawberry Rhubarb
•Apple
•Peach
•Cherry

All Seward-made baked goods are local Community Foods products.

What is Pi Day?
Pi (Greek letter “π”) is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant, the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter (about 3.14 …). Pi Day is an annual opportunity for math enthusiasts to recite the infinite digits of Pi, talk to their friends about math, and to eat pie.

We love a good excuse to eat pie. Grab yours and save 15% on Thursday, March 14.

In the spirit of Mardi Gras, Seward Co-op’s sausage department is offering Cajun Boudin, a classic Louisiana sausage.

Seward-made Cajun Boudin is deliciously spicy and loaded with peppers, onions, liver and pork from Peterson Craftsman Meats in Osceola, Wisconsin, a local Community Foods producer.

To eat like an Acadiana local, skip the casing on this one by squeezing out the mixture as you eat it or cutting it open and forming a boudin ball that you roll in corn meal and fry. It’s a great choice for snacking on with beers while the gumbo or étouffée simmer.

Pairs well with grits, collard greens or black-eyed peas. Try eggs benedict with boudin balls instead of ham.

Find the Cajun Boudin and other Seward-made sausages now in our Meat and Seafood department!

All Seward-made sausage is made in Seward Co-op’s production kitchen.

WIC began transitioning from paper vouchers to an electronic payment card on Jan. 24. We’re excited that the new system provides a more consistent checkout experience for all customers, as well as some added flexibility for customers as to how and when to use WIC benefits. Seward Co-op shoppers may notice some changes around the stores as part of the federally required switch to eWIC.

Our Commitment to WIC
WIC (Women Infants and Children) is a program that provides resources to eligible families with young children. Seward Co-op became an authorized WIC retailer in the 1980s. We share WIC’s goal of ensuring young children receive good nutrition, and Seward Co-op’s mission is to sustain a healthy community.

New WIC Product Requirements
While Seward Co-op continues to negotiate alternatives, we now stock items required by WIC such as prepacked cheese, non-organic whole wheat pasta, and white eggs “with no attributes.” WIC determined “attributes” include cage-free, organic, brown and nutritionally enhanced.

Seward Co-op remains committed to the WIC program. We are proud to support access to healthy food for children and families. To participate in WIC, stores are required to carry all products specified in the program. At this time, we can’t opt out of certain items or provide alternatives as we have in the past.

For years, Seward Co-op subsidized key products to ensure access to cage-free eggs and certain organic products, such as baby food. Now that eWIC has launched, we must adhere to the new approved product list.

We worked with our distributors to bring in WIC-eligible cheese. Seward Co-op continues to look for distribution options to help expand our offerings while complying with the approved product list.

Contact WIC Office
Seward Co-op prioritizes products from humanely raised animals. We are working with the MN WIC office to advocate for quality food we believe should be available to everyone.

Your feedback may help create change. Seward Co-op staff encourages you to share your thoughts and concerns with the MN WIC office at 651-201-4444.